2 Keys to Successful Resolution Making

Starting NOW could give you more success

So, let me ask you a question: What goals you are thinking about setting for the coming year?

Goals? The coming year?

At this point in November, celebrating the end of 2019 and welcoming 2020 doesn’t even register on my radar. In fact, New Year’s Eve is still weeks away.

I need to get through Thanksgiving; Christmas shopping for four children and their spouses, seven grandchildren, and my spouse; making at least two large plates of Christmas cookies to give away; decorating for Christmas; deciding how to celebrate Christmas this year; and writing my Christmas card letter to send with the card.

You’re waiting, again this year, until January 1 to set your goals and resolutions for the year?

Ah, yeah. This year, 2019, I waited until a Vision Board Workshop in mid-January to look at my previous year (2018).

How did that look?

As I did my evaluation, I found that every single goal I set to accomplish in 2018 went unrealized.

I had set up that I would start an exercise plan and follow it in 2018. Did I do that? Ah, NO! I hadn’t really even started.

I had resolved that I would sit down and write every day in 2018. Did I follow that personal directive? Ah, NO!

I had determined that I wanted to start a letter writing campaign to family and friends, not just to send them a Christmas card, but to also remember their birthday and send a just because card. Ah, well, I got a couple sent out.

It wasn’t a pretty evaluation of what I accomplished in 2018.

So, as I set my goals and resolutions for 2019, I told myself I would do better even though January had already begun and I was already almost two weeks behind.

BUT, this year, again, my goals and resolutions will find themselves wanting by December 31.

That realization sent me into contemplation — AGAIN.

I realized that in both 2018 and 2019, as well as every year that preceded those two years, I had set myself up for failure.

How can I be successful in accomplishing my goals and resolutions for 2020 if I wait until January 1, 2020, to begin my evaluation of 2019 and to set new goals?

Waiting until January 1 (the beginning of a month, the beginning of a week, or your birthday) is too late to set goals.

Waiting until January 1 to follow a healthier life-style is too late.

Waiting until November 1 to begin writing that novel for National Novel Writing Month is too late.

Waiting until your birthday, the beginning of a month, or the beginning of a week is too late to begin to make a change in your life.

WHY?

To me, most motivators don’t focus on two aspects of personality that could factor into whether or not you achieve your goals for the year.

1. DESIRE

At least for me, the first problem in waiting until January 1 (or the beginning of a month/week or my birthday) is that my FIRE OF DESIRE begins to fade.

That one simple emotion — DESIRE — gives me MOMENTUM.

It’s much easier to begin with the DESIRE to do something in order to make a change. To begin WHEN that DESIRE strikes your psyche. That DESIRE can build the MOMENTUM you need to be successful.

On top of that, when you start with DESIRE, you can build the change you want to make slowly.

Many times I hear people making the resolution to exercise and lose weight in the new year. They begin the year with a gym membership and get to that gym on January 1 and walk at a brisk pace on the treadmill for 30 minutes even though they haven’t worked out for over six months. They go home tired and sore. The next day they drag themselves to the gym, but by the end of the month, the DESIRE has died.

WHY?

Because they started where they wanted to be instead of starting where they were and letting DESIRE give them MOMENTUM to build up their stamina.

Instead of waiting until January 1, try beginning when DESIRE grabs you. Then, let the MOMENTUM that DESIRE creates move you forward. Even when you don’t feel like following your plan, you can convince yourself that you’ve built yourself up for “X” number of days and skipping one day would alter your MOMENTUM.

Let me give you an example . . .

Right now, I have the DESIRE to begin living a healthier life. I realize that I have been eating without thinking about the nutrition in my food; I can feel it in every joint and muscle. I realize that I haven’t been exercising like I should, according to health experts, health coaches, and my former doctor.

If I wait until January 1 to begin the changes necessary to live a healthier life, that DESIRE might fade away. I will have indulged in way too much high fat/high calorie foods and forgotten that exercise makes me feel better.

In April, I joined a gym. Yes, April. I took things VERY SLOWLY. I joined in April, BUT I didn’t start going to the gym until a week ago. I set the goal in January, finally dragged myself into the gym to begin a membership, but didn’t get myself through the door of the gym again until last MONDAY.

That day, I spent 16 minutes on the treadmill. I didn’t tell myself to walk in and get on the treadmill for 30 or 45 minutes and walk at a 3.0 mph pace. I tricked myself. I went on the gym’s APP and signed up for the new member orientation. I made a commitment that others would see. After the orientation, I got on the treadmill.

Did I make it back the next day? Or the next?

Nope. I didn’t make it back until Friday. Then, Sunday was so beautiful I took the dogs out for a walk. AND Monday, I walked through the doors of the gym once again and this time spent 25 minutes on the treadmill.

By working my way toward a goal slowly, I am working and building my DESIRE to change. My goal for November was to make it to the gym at least once a week, and if it isn’t raining, to take the dogs for a walk on Sundays.

2. A PLAN

For me, the second problem in waiting until January 1 (or the beginning of a month/week or my birthday) is that I forget the need for a plan. Something, to me, about January 1 and resolutions/goals feels like the PLAN is magically built in.

No matter if you feel the magical PLAN or take a PLAN out one of the magazines at the check out aisle of the grocery store or from your favorite inspirational website, please realize that the PLAN you have adopted HAS NOT BEEN MADE WITH YOU IN MIND.

You have your own set of speed bumps and detours. You have your own life responsibilities. Your challenges are not the challenges of the writer in that magazine article or website.

We already know how to plan. We make detailed plans filled with DESIRE for the BIG things in our lives. We plan. We make lists. We organize.

We plan our high school “career”: what courses to take, what clubs to join, what sports and activities to get involved in.

We plan our college “career”: determine what will be our major and minor (and yes, some of us have changed our minds mid-education), choose what sports, clubs, and activities will be worthy of our attention.

We plan for our career: the application, the interview, the follow-up.

We plan for our first home (apartment, condo, or house): down-payment, monthly payments, furnishing.

We plan for our wedding: wedding party, location of ceremony and reception, guest list.

We plan for our children (at least once we know that in less than nine months there will be an additional person in our home): where will they sleep, who will care for the child if I choose to work, purchases that need to be made, even possible names.

We plan (or rather we are told by financial institutions) for our retirement: contribute to our employer’s 401k program, put extra money away, invest our money so it grows.

We even plan for our death (or at least my mother did): sit with a lawyer and draw up a will or trust, pre-pay for our funeral, choose the music and words to be used in our funeral.

Why is it, then, that most of us don’t create a plan for how we will invest in ourselves (time or money wise) in order to accomplish our goals.

I think you know what I’m talking about.

January 1, 2019, you wrote down your New Year’s Resolutions, created a vision board, wrote out goals, created scrapbook pages of where you wanted to be or what you wanted to accomplish by December 31, 2019.

Spoiler Alert:

There is less than a month and a half (approximately) left to 2019, and we are moving into the busiest weeks of the year.

Today, I want you to start evaluating what you have accomplished in 2019 and thinking about what might want to accomplish in the year 2020.

Yes, now, during the busiest weeks of the year.

Are you repeating a goal from 2019 that you started, but didn’t follow through with? (That’s ok.)

Are you continuing a goal from 2019 that hasn’t become a habit, but it’s important to you? (That’s ok.)

If you have been successful with a 2019 goals, will you be stepping it up to the next level? (Great!)

If you have been successful with a 2019 goal, is that success enough and you are ready to move on to something else? (Fantastic!)

BUT why evaluate now?

Because if you can take a moment to look at yourself and your habits and your activities during the busiest weeks of the year and see what needs to change for you to accomplish your goals, then it will be easier to make a plan for those changes BEFORE January 1, 2020.

Not only does making a plan BEFORE January 1 allow you to start ON January 1, it also allows you to start when DESIRE strikes and BEGIN SLOWLY.

Change comes from looking inward to find what you desire DESIRE, and change takes time and PLANNING.

Why not start TODAY?

Thanks for reading.

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Becky spent 34 years in a teaching career, but retired in 2014 to pursue writing. As a teacher in a high school English department, she held the philosophy that she wouldn’t give any writing assignment that she personally wouldn’t or couldn’t do. That philosophy strengthened and broadened her own writing.

Check out Rebecca Kojetin where Becky writes about life topics: health, home, writing, arts and crafts, travel, and living the best life you can and sign up to receive “Let’s Chat About . . .” in your email every Saturday beginning this July.